Bruce Springsteen (ব্রুস স্প্রিংস্টিন) is an American rock musician from New Jersey. His songs include "Born to Run" and "Born in the USA. For more than 30 years he has been a singer along with his E-Street Band." Also, he is now a member in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jon Landau, a music writer for Rolling Stone magazine, once said: "I have seen the future of rock and roll, and its name is Bruce Springsteen." Springsteen won an Oscar for his song "Streets Of Philadelphia", written for the Tom Hanks' movie Philadelphia.

Early life

Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and spent his childhood and high school years in Freehold Borough. His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen, was a bus driver. His mother, Adele Ann (née Zirilli), was a legal secretary. He has two younger sisters, Virginia and Pamela. Pamela was an actor but left this profession and became a photographer. She took photos for the Human Touch and Lucky Town albums.

Raised Catholic, Springsteen attended the St. Rose of Lima Catholic school in Freehold Borough. Old teachers have said he was a "loner, who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar." He completed high school, but felt so uncomfortable that he skipped his own graduation ceremony. He briefly went to Ocean County College but had no degree.

Early career

Till the early 1970s he played with different bands in the Atlantic area. In 1972 he signed a record contract with Columbia Records. His first album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in January 1973, was commercially not a success but was highly favored by music critics. Also his second album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle was more acclaimed than sold.

In the May 22, 1974, issue of Boston's The Real Paper, music critic Jon Landau wrote after seeing a performance at the Harvard Square Theater, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time." Landau became Springsteen's manager and producer.

Breakthrough

The commercial breakthrough was his third album Born to Run, which was released on August 25, 1975. Due to this Springsteen was on the covers of Time magazine and Newsweek. After a legal battle with his old manager Mike Appel, he could release his third album Darkness on the Edge of Town not earlier than 1978. In 1978, he worked together with Patti Smith, who had a hit with Springsteen's song "Because the Night". Also Manfred Mann ("Blinded by the Light") and the Pointer Sisters ("Fire") had success with songs of Bruce Springsteen. The next album was The River. The single from this album "Hungry Heart" was his first Top 10 hit. The River brought Bruce Springsteen in a wide range of styles from ballads to rock songs.

His next album was Nebraska (1982) which he recorded in a studio at his home. The only instruments in this record were guitar and harmonica. The songs are about outsiders of the US society. Despite its commercial flop it is regarded by critics as one of Springsteen's best albums.

He is probably best known for his next album Born in the USA which sold 15 million copies in the USA. It contains 7 hit singles which all reached the Top 10. The following tour was also a huge success. The title track of the album was widely misunderstood as patriotic hymn. In fact it was a comment on the poor treatment of Vietnam veterans. In later years Springsteen performed the song only with acoustic guitar to make the meaning of the song more clear. An acoustic version also appeared on Tracks, a later album. Videos for the album were made by famous movie directors Brian De Palma and John Sayles.

The next album was Live/1975–85, which summed up the powerful live performances of Bruce Springsteen. It was a five records box-set and was the first set which reached #1 in the charts.

After Born in the USA, Springsteen recorded again more sedate and contemplative albums like Tunnel of Love (1987). In late 1989 he dissolved the E-Street Band and married Patti Scialfa. The couple relocated to California. In 1992 he released two albums at once, Human Touch and Lucky Town. After he had received many Grammy Awards he also was winner of the Academy Award in 1994 for his song "Streets of Philadelphia", which appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Philadelphia.

Springsteen and politics

In September 1979, Springsteen and the E Street Band joined the Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) anti-nuclear power collective at Madison Square Garden for two nights, playing an short set and two songs from his next album. 1988 Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International. 2008 he supported Barack Obama's presidential campaign and he was the musical opener for the Obama Inaugural Celebration on January 18, 2009. He performed "The Rising" with a female choir. Later he performed Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" with Pete Seeger.

E Street Band

He did most of his records with the E Street Band. The band was formed in October, 1972. Although Springsteen played with other bands, the E Street Band was his band for 40 years. The band took the name from a street in Belmar, New Jersey where the mother of a founding member lived and allowed the band to practice. The band members also do solo works and play as session musicians (for example: Bittan and Van Zandt for Bob Dylan on Empire Burlesque). Clemons and Lofgren also went on tour with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band in 1989. Although Springsteen informed the band in 1989 that he would not play with them they remained friends and from 1999 onwards they again played and recorded together.